Downton Abbey Station
by maddieliz6
Summary: Anna Smith is a sergeant at a police station in Downton. Her life hasn't been easy but she's found comfort in her job, knowing that she is helping others. Just when here life seems to becoming dull, a new detective named John Bates begins working at her station and sparks fly. Characters and storylines belong to Downton Abbey.
1. Chapter 1

Anna grabbed her coffee, down at the break room table, and yawned. It was much too early to be in the office, but she _had_ to finish filing the report of the case they had just closed. The captain would be expecting the report on his desk the moment he walked in the office. This case had been a long and tedious one and she was exhausted. She loved her job and the people her co-workers but lately things had begun to feel monotonous. She wasn't getting the same satisfaction from the job as she felt when she first began five years ago. Anna joined the police force academy when she graduated high school. She knew she had wanted a job that would help people and the academy was the first and quickest option for her to leave her messed up home life.

The training was rigorous and harsh, but she loved it. She loved the structure and balance of it all. She didn't care that the other trainees made fun of her demeanor and size. She was too focused on succeeding to care. The hard work had paid off and Anna had graduated at the top of her class. She was immediately placed at the Downton Station and has been here ever since. After only two years of being a rookie she was promoted to a higher position. Now she was in charge of the rookies despite being so young.

Suddenly the breakroom door burst open, making Anna jump in her seat.

"Oh, sorry Anna!" said a breathless Daisy. She was one of the rookies that Anna was in charge of.

"It's okay Daisy. I was just startled. I didn't think anybody else was here yet." She chuckled.

Daisy smiled nervously.

"Well I just wanted to make sure that the entire office was clean before the rest of the officers got here."

Anna squinted her eyes in confusion. "Why? I mean that's very sweet of you but we have custodial staff who does that." Daisy's face fell and her voice began to wobble.

"But...I thought that was a part of my job?" Anna sighed. Poor Daisy. Sometimes she was just too trusting of people.

"Did Thomas tell you to do that?"

Daisy nodded solemnly. "Daisy why don't you follow me into my office and take a nap until I wake you up." Daisy nodded again as Anna got up from her chair. "And don't listen to what Thomas tells you anymore, okay?" She said giving Daisy's hand a small squeeze. Daisy followed Anna into here office, dragging her feet as she walked.

"Here." Anna said opening the bottom drawer of her desk. "I keep a blanket in here for this exact purpose." She winked.

"Thank you so much Anna. You're always so kind to me."

Anna merely nodded and sat down at her desk to finish her report.

It wasn't until two hours later that Anna finally finished her report. The office was beginning to bustle with it's usual activity. She printed her report and only then just realized that Daisy had already left the office. Making her way out of her office she noticed a small group of people gathered around the front door of the station. Chief Grantham wasn't in his office yet, thank god, so she placed the report neatly on his desk and decided to see what the small commotion was about. She reached the outside of the group and realized they were huddled around a person. She tapped one of her rookies, Gwen, on the shoulder and asked.

"Hey, what's all this about?" Just as Gwen was about to respond, one of the officers left the circle and provided a window for her to see who they were speaking to. It was a man she didn't recognize, but Chief Grantham had his arm happily around the man's neck as if they were friends. A few of the officers were openly staring at him with a look of disdain. Anna followed their gaze and realized what they were staring at. The man had a cane in his left hand. She finally caught eyes with him and he immediately gave her a warm smile. It was the best kind of smile, one of those genuine ones that create creases next to your eyes.

"Hello," Anna held out her hand, "I'm Anna Smith. I'm the sergeant of this station." He extended his right hand and placed it gently into hers.

"I'm John. John Bates. I'll be the new detective here."

"Lovely to meet you."

"Likewise."

Anna wasn't sure what it was about him but her heart fluttered just slightly. A feeling she wasn't used to, but one she figured would happen again very soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next few months, Detective Bates had a bit of a rough time settling into the new environment of the Downton Station. Chief Grantham had been welcoming, or course, but some of the staff went out of their way to make him feel not welcome. Captain Carson seemed wary of the fact that Bates was crippled but he was determined to show Carson that he deserved to be there. He needed to convince himself as much as he needed to show Carson. Mr. Molesey, his partner, was a bit clumsy and but was one of the nicer people in the office. And then there was Anna. The moment she stepped into a room with him he felt at ease. With her he was no longer a broken-hearted, crippled man. With her he felt strong and important. She made him remember why he became a detective in the first place. He came into work early just so he could have a few moments with her, and today was no exception.

He walked through the glass double doors and his eyes habitually landed on her on her office door. Hmmm, he wondered the door was open but she wasn't sitting in her usual hunched position at her desk. Maybe she went to the bathroom, he thought. He decided to go ahead and get the coffee started. However, to his surprise, when he opened the breakroom door the strong smell of coffee wafted into his nose. Anna stood humming at the sink washing out the coffee grinder. She turned to him and smiled brightly.

"Good morning, Bates, your coffee is sitting on the table." She said with a nod of her head. He smiled back and chuckled lightly.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He sat down at the table as she shut off the kitchen faucet and grabbed her own cup of coffee.

"Oh nothing," she said slyly, "I've just noticed that you like your coffee strong before you can get any work done, and I was already making mine so…" He smiled and sighed with content after taking a sip. The coffee was perfect and sent a warm, fuzzy feeling throughout his body. Or maybe it was more than the coffee...Good god Bates hold yourself together, man. She's much too good for you. But ohh the way he made her feel…

"Do you always get lost in deep thoughts so early in the morning?" She asked. He couldn't help but laugh. He hoped it wasn't obvious what he had been thinking about.

"Not always, but when I do brood, it's usually something I care about."

"Mmm and what might that be?"

To his relief, Chief Grantham opened the breakroom door before he had the chance to answer.

"Oh hello! Bates, Smith." He said acknowledging them individually. "Smith, I assume I'll be seeing you on Saturday for Mary's Birthday?"

"Yes. Of course. I'll be there early to help."

Mary was Chief Grantham's daughter who Anna had become quite close with over the years. Grantham turned suddenly and faced Bates.

"Why don't you join us Bates? It's been far too long since you've seen Cora and the girls. I'm sure they would love to see you.

"Oh, no I couldn't-"

"No, no, no," The chief cut him off. "I won't hear any excuses. You simply must be there."

"Yes. You should come Bates." Anna said with a soft smile.

"Well…" He looked between the two of them, "Alright. Only if you insist."

"Good man." Chief Grantham patted his shoulder and made his way out of the room.

"Well," Bates downed the rest of his coffee and stood up from his chair, "Guess I'll see you Saturday." He winked.


	3. Chapter 3

John Bates exited his car, already hearing chatter and music coming from the Crawley's backyard. The front door opened before he was even half way down the front walkway.

"Bates!" A slightly tipsy Chief Crawley bellowed out the front door. "You made it!"

Mr. Bates shook his hand when he made it to the front door. "Thank you for inviting me."

"Of course, of course! Come on in, we're all outside, Well except for the Birthday girl," he chuckled, "Mary loves to make her entrances. Anna is up there helping her get ready."

John was lead into the backyard where there were table spreads of cheese and crackers, mimosas, beautiful bouquets of colorful flowers. This may have been "a small party" but the Crawleys spared no expense. There were mostly familiar faces of people he hadn't seen in years. He hardly recognized Sybil, the youngest of Robert's daughters, when she came running towards him.

"Mr. Bates!" She gave him a warm hug and a sweet, genuine smile. "It's so good to see you!"

"Sybil, I hardly even recognized you, you've grown up so fast!"

"Well I'm a college girl now, Mr. Bates." With her astute eye, she could tell that Mr. Bates felt a bit out of place, so she kindly took him by the arm and led him further into the center of the lively gathering. "Come and say hello to everyone else, they'll be thrilled to see you."

God bless Sybil Crawley, Mr. Bates thought. She was right though. Everyone seemed pleasantly surprised to see him. Even Edith, who is usually rather shy, gave him a warm hug. He was just about to say hello to old Grandmother Mrs. Crawley when a familiar voice from behind stopped him.

"Ladies and gentleman," He heard a sweet but clear voice announce. He turned around to find the most lovely sight before him. Anna stood in a gorgeous, green floor length dress, and her long blonde hair was down and out of it's usual tight bun. She was purely stunning. He took her breath away, "May I present to you, the birthday girl herself: Mary Crawley!" She smiled and stood out of the doorway to let Mary enter while the small crowd began to clap and sing "Happy Birthday" together. Mr. Bates tried to sing along but he couldn't stop staring at Anna. She finally caught his eye, and smiled even larger, seeing that he had made it to the party. He looked away, embarrassed that she saw him staring, but little did he know that she was blushing right back.

Once the sun went down, it had begun rain slightly so the party was moved indoors. Everyone was having such a marvelous time that no one had even noticed when the rain had stopped. In one corner of the living room there was a lively game of charades occurring, in another there was a very loud and very bad person singing karaoke. Anna was so wrapped up in keeping Mary happy that she hadn't had the chance to slip away and say hello to Detective Bates. And she so desperately wanted to. Partially because she felt bad for him. He had revealed to her the first week they met that he wasn't very good at small talk, and she good see that was true just from the few times she had glanced over to him.

The other reason she didn't quite want to admit to herself but…he looked rather dashing in his button down shirt and pressed slacks. Anna liked a man who could dress himself well. A loud shout from Mary caused her attention spring back to the present. Apparently she was accusing Edith of cheating.

"Oh Mary, come on don't be a sore loser!" Edith shouted.

"I'm not sore! I just hate it when people think they can bend the rules!" Mary barked back.

Usually Anna was the one who mediated this situation but it seemed like Mrs. Crawley had it under control and Anna realized she was beginning to have a migraine. She slipped away from the fighting and stepped out into the early autumn air.

The air smelled of rain, which made her smile. It made her think of her father who used to love dashing outside anytime it rained.

"What are people so afraid of!" He would shout. "It's just God watering his plants!" He would laugh like a child then tilt his head back and stick his tongue out. He had died when Anna was fourteen, and there wasn't a week when she didn't think about him at least once.

"Looks like someone had the same idea." Anna turned to see Mr. Bates entering the quart yard with a smirk on his face.

"Great minds think alike." She smiled back.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Anna was touched and surprised at his concern for her well being.

She nodded. "I am. Thank you for asking. It was just getting a bit loud in there."

"I know what you mean."

"Mary's always trying to make me go to more social gatherings, but since it was her birthday I couldn't say no."

Mr. Bates gave her a quizzical look. "Do you not social very much, Miss Smith?"

Anna laughed at that. "It's not that…it's just well..the less people the better I suppose. I guess you could say I'm more of an introvert."

"You don't need to tell me. I'm probably worse than you."

"Oh I don't know Detective, you seemed to be doing better in there than you think." She said sarcastically.

"Please, call me John."

"Only if you call me Anna."

He smiled. "Fair enough. Let's shake on it." He held out his hand and she slid her hand perfectly into his. Neither one said a word, but the look in each other's eyes said it all: it felt like a perfect fit.

_Sorry for the delay in chapters, I've had a bit of writer's block! Please review!_


	4. Chapter 4

After Mary's birthday party, Anna and John had begun to spend more alone time together. They ate lunch together at the station, sometimes carpooled to work, and spent time at the Crawley's home during family nights and gatherings. There was a palpable, unsaid connection that the two of them felt even just being in the same room. And it didn't go unnoticed by others as well. After one of the Crawley family gatherings Robert had taken John aside before leaving.

"John. I can't help but notice…is there..is there something going on between you and Anna?" John was taken by surprise. The look on his face must have worried the Chief because he quickly said "If there isn't I'm so sorry that I asked. I didn't mean to pry. Its just..well to be honest I haven't seen you this happy for quite a while, my friend."

John couldn't help but smile because it was true. All the time he had been spending with her had lifted his spirit immensely.

"Well…I..I don't know if she feels the same, but yes…" He paused. "I do have feelings for her. It feels ridiculous really."

"What? Why on earth do you say that?" Robert asked, flabbergasted.

"Well," He chuckled lightly, "She's much too good for me. Look at me, Robert. And look at her. She's gorgeous and young and I'm-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Robert said placing his hand on John's shoulder. "Anna is one of the kindest people I've ever met, but…so are you. Do I need to remind you again that you saved my life? You deserve each other. And that's that. It's plain and simple."

Now John was the one who was flabbergasted. He touched him deeply to hear his old comrade say those words.

Holding out his hand to shake, John said "Thank you. Truly it means a lot to hear you say that."

"I'm getting soft in my old age!" The two men chuckled heartily. Then suddenly Robert became rather serious. "All I ask is that you take care of her. If she gets hurt-"

"She won't." Bates said with certainty

"Of course, of course. Just know that she's practically a Crawley, and we've all grown quite fond of her."

Anna sat hunched at her desk, brows furrowed, trying desperately to get her work done. Almost everyone in the station had already gone home, but Anna hardly noticed. As she was doing her routine filing, she found something that connected the dots on an old, open case. She wasn't positive if she was correct, and she didn't want to bring it to Chief Grantham's attention until she was 100% sure that she was right. Her gut told her that she was.

A knock at her door made her nearly jump out of her chair.

"Good god!" She laughed when she saw it was only John Bates. She looked at her watch, it was nearly 10:00pm. "What are you still doing here?"

He smirked at her. "I might ask you the same question." He gestured at the chair in the corner to ask if he could join, to which Anna nodded her head.

"Well…you see I think I found something." She bit her lip nervously, wondering if she should even tell him.

"You found something? What do you mean?"

She took a breath and said it quickly to get it off her chest. "I think I've found the missing piece in the Coyle case from five years ago." She finally met his eyes in anticipation.

His dark chocolate eyes widened. "Isn't that the case with the group of missing girls that was all over the news?" She nodded silently. "Wow. That's-

"Insane, I know." She sighed. "But…something tells me that I'm right. I just have to prove it."

His lips slowly spread surreptitiously into a small smile.

"What?" She asked. He only shook his head in response. "What is it?" She pressed.

"You're incredible, you know."

Her heart gave a little flutter in her chest. "Well..I don't know about that…but I do know that if I don't crack this tonight, I won't be able to sleep. So, if you don't mind _Detective_, I need to get back to my work." She said teasingly.

John began to take off his jacket. "Alright let me help you."

Anna blushed. "Oh no, no. I can't let you do that. I wouldn't want to be a bother." John only rolled up his shirt sleeves in response.

"Anna, it would be an honor to be bothered by you." Anna opened her mouth to protest but found that when she looked into his kind eyes, she just melted.

"Oh alright. You can start by going through that stack of papers on the floor and looking for this license plate number." She said handing him a sticky note.

"You're the boss." He said with a wink.

They worked and worked, only stopping once for a quick coffee break. The silence wedged in between them was never awkward, but welcomed. Anna found that even without talking to him, she felt comforted by his presence, a feeling that didn't happen very often in her life. It was 3:00am when finally she hit it.

"Oh my god!" She shouted. John looked up with concern, but his concern immediately faded when he saw the look on her face. "Oh my god, I've got it!"

Without a second thought, she flung herself into his arms with elation. She realized with sudden embarrassment that they had never touched like this before. She slowly broke the embrace.

"I'm sorry. I don't know-"

Before she could finish her sentence, his lips were melting onto hers and an immediate warmth spread throughout her entire body like the first sip of a hot drink. They broke apart and grinned at each other like moony-eyed teenagers.

He placed his hand gently on her cheek. "I've been wanting to do that since the moment I shook your hand." She placed her hand gently on top of his.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." This time she was the one to initiate the kiss. Their lips fell perfectly in sync with one another.

"We should…probably…get going.." He said breathlessly. She reluctantly let go of him as her mind floated back to earth.

"You're probably right." Before he could put his jacket back on, she slipped her hand into his. "Thank you. For helping me tonight. Truly." He squeezed her hand in response.

"I'll always help you Anna Smith. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace."

The next morning, Anna wearily presented her newfound piece of evidence to the Chief.

"Golly gumdrops!" Chief Grantham bellowed, then looked at Anna. If she weren't so tired she would have tried harder to suppress her laughter.

"You found this last night!?" She nodded. "By God it's marvelous work."

She smiled with relief. "Thank you, sir."

He bounded to his office door and shouted "Molsley! Get over here!"

Anna peeked her head out to see Molsley clumsily make his way to the Chief. "Molsely, I need you to run this paperwork to the DA's office immediately!"

"Yes, Chief Grantham."

Chief Grantham then turned back around to Anna and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You've done a fine job Ms. Smith. A fine job indeed and I couldn't be prouder." He squeezed her shoulder gently.

Anna found herself blinking tears back.

"Thank you so much, sir."

To he surprise he whipped around, opened his office door wider, and shouted to the entire station.

"Everyone! Everyone, could I have your attention please!." After several moments, the busy chitter-chatter, and office sounds died down. "It is my honor to announce our newest Detective: Anna Smith!"

Anna's jaw dropped and her cheeks flushed as he guided her next to him to stand in front of the station. Everyone started clapping for her and suddenly she felt like a bashful child getting praise from their teacher. Her eyes landed on John, who had the giddiest grin of pride on his face. Her friends began to gather around her to congratulate her, but her eyes kept wandering back to John. Her dream job and a man. She simply could not believe her luck.


	5. Chapter 5

_One year later._

Ever since she had been promoted to Detective, things had picked up speed in Anna's life. Her new position was everything she had ever dreamed of. The glorious feeling of knowing that she was changing people's lives was almost addictive. She felt as though she had a new, profound purpose in life. She didn't like to admit it, but the job did have it's downsides. She had to be mentally focused every hour of the day, so much so that she was hardly getting any sleep. She was exhausted all the time. But she could never let those thoughts leave her brain. She knew that with whatever case she was working on, someone had it worse than her.

And then there was John. She and John started dating not long after her promotion and she had never had anything like it before. The feelings she had for him were so strong that it scared her sometimes. But when his arm is around her, there's no question it's where she is meant to be. He gets her through all of the exhaustion, all of the long and hard days, and he makes her feel seen. Anna has never had anyone in her life that supports her quite like John does.

She sat now on the couch in his office, both of them quietly attending to their work. This was her favorite part of her weeks. Each week there was always at least one or two days in which they need to catch up on paperwork and updating the online database, and without fail they always did this together.

There were hardly ever words spoken during this time together but his presence was all Anna needed. It was a breath of fresh air in the midst of a dense fog. Being able to sit with someone in a comfortable silence is all the words you could ever need.

Suddenly, Chief Grantham barged into John's office, out of breath, without even knocking. John and Anna looked up from their work in surprise.

"John you need to get to the interrogation room immediately." The urgency in his voice caused a bubbling nervousness to rise in his chest.

"What is it? What's wrong?" John looked from Chief Grantham to Anna with worry. Anna's face only mirrored his own.

Robert looked at him with pity. "It's your wife. She's been called into questioning."

"My wife? You mean Vera…my ex-wife?" His cheeks flushed.

Chief Grantham nodded solemnly. John felt his anger begin to bubble. Over the past year Vera had been nothing but trouble. They had been separated for years but she had refused to sign the divorce papers. Especially after she found out about Anna. John didn't tell Anna about Vera until a several weeks into their relationship, but stupidly, he hadn't told her that they weren't quite divorced yet. It had just come out when he told Anna and he had been too much of a coward to take it back.

"What has she done now?"

Robert cleared his throat nervously. "She's…She's claiming you murdered her boyfriend."

"What?!" John bellowed.

"That's not possible!" Anna shouted, her hear beating rapidly in her chest.

Chief Grantham sighed. "I know, I know. It's utterly ridiculous, but John…She has some evidence against you. You went to her flat two weeks ago did you not?"

"Of course not!" Anna shouted. "Why would" upon seeing the guilty look written all over his face she stopped short. "John? Did you..did you go to her flat?"

He rubbed his hands on his face and rifled through his hair. "I did. I went to her flat in anger because she…" He knew the next words he was going to say would crush Anna and he knew he had screwed up. "She was demanding more money from the divorce."

"But you said…you said she was your Ex-wife." Anna stared at him in disbelief. He could hardly look at her, seeing the pain that appeared in her eyes as she made the realization. "John Bates are you still legally married?!" He didn't answer and pressed his lips into a tight line. "Oh my god." She whispered. Chief Grantham stood awkwardly in the middle of the door frame, knowing that he shouldn't be privy to the conversation that just occurred.

"I'm sorry to..to interrupt but we really do need to go down there, Bates. They're waiting for you. To…to question you as well."

"Alright." He acquiesced quietly. Before leaving the room, he stopped in the doorway and turned to Anna. "Please can we finish this conversation later. I need to…I need to explain myself." Anna did not look him in the eye, but nodded tightly. She was too astonished to even speak. Her boyfriend was suddenly married and an accused murderer all within the span of five minutes.

John followed Chief Grantham reluctantly. He knew that whatever was about to happen would be nothing short of a disaster. His contempt for Vera once again flared up in his veins. That witch! Why couldn't she just let him go?

When they arrived downstairs there were two police officers he didn't recognize and Captain Carson waiting in the hallway. He breathed his temper in and out as Carson approached him.

"I'm sorry about this dreadful business Detective Bates, but as you know we have to question you. Routine and all."

John held his tongue from saying anything nasty and instead respectfully nodded. "I understand Carson. Do what you need to do."

Carson nodded. "Very good. You will be in room 1A and your…that is, Vera, is currently in 1C. Because of your employment with us it would be inappropriate for one of us to interview you, so Inspector Vynar from London will be on this case and will conduct the interrogation. This way, Bates."

Robert patted his shoulder and whispered "Don't worry about a thing, Bates, just answer honestly and we'll see what we can do."

John nodded and followed Carson into the interrogation room like a school boy being called into the principal's office.

Anna was wringing her hands nervously and pacing around John's office. Her mind was whirling and she couldn't seem to grasp a singular full thought. She was so angry and hurt at John for lying to her but more than anything she was scared for what might be happening downstairs. Would they really believe Vera's accusations? Surely John's good nature would triumph anything that woman said?

A soft knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

Ms. Hughes, the woman who practically ran the whole inner-workings of the station, came in carrying two mugs of tea. She always had a soft spot in her heart for Anna from the first day Anna joined the station.

"I thought you might need this, my dear." She said smiling warmly. Anna tried to smile back as she took one of the mugs.

"Thank you, Ms. Hughes. This is very kind." She gestured to the two chairs in front of John's desk for them to sit in. Ms. Hughes took a moment before speaking, hoping that she wasn't speaking out of turn.

"I heard about…what happened. I was at the front desk when she came in," She shook her head in disgust, "that woman came barging in the front door, demanding to be seen as if she were royalty. She's a piece of work that's for sure." Anna was quiet. She was quiet by nature but this was different, she was subdued. Ms. Hughes then noticed that Anna had tears in her eyes.

"Anna, are you alright? Don't get too worried. They'll see reason."

"That's not what- That's not why I'm upset." She whispered.

"Oh." Ms. Hughes looked more closely at Anna, trying to speculate what else could be the matter. "Is it…did something happen between you and Detective bates?"

Anna nodded her head slowly as the gravity of the situation began to sink in.

"He…he lied to me . He lied to me about something huge. Something you don't lie about in a relationship. And I…I can't stand ignominy, I really can't." A few tears escaped her ocean blue eyes. Ms. Hughes kindly placed a soft hand onto her arm.

"There, there Anna. I'm sure he didn't mean it with malice."

"Of course he didn't. And that's what upsets me the most. Did he not trust me enough to tell me?" Ms. Hughes wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't quite a sage when it came to the love department. "I want to smack him, but I'm just so worried for him now."

"It'll all work itself out, I'm sure of it." Ms. Hughes said confidently. "I believe that British justice will triumph in the end."

Little did they know how wrong they would be…

_To be continued! _


End file.
